January 25, 2013: Deadline to send bill ideas to the California Legislative Counsel for drafting.

February 22, 2013: Deadline to introduce bills.

Each member of the Assembly and State Senate are allowed to introduce up to 40 bills in this two year legislative session.

On to the morning’s California headlines:

Friends remember Bob Larkin, long-time Republican and Simi Valley activist – Bob Larkin, a gregarious, small business owner, who once headed the county’s Republican Central Committee and championed Simi Valley causes has died.Larkin, who served as the committee’s chairman in the early 1990s, was a moderate Republican who was critical of the very conservative branch of the party and in return received criticism for some of his opinions, but he was unwavering in his beliefs, friends recalled on Monday.

“He was always dedicated to what he believed in,” former U.S. Congressman Elton Gallegly, a Simi Valley Republican, said. “He clearly was involved. He was not afraid of controversy. He was not afraid or taking a controversial opinion. He wasn’t one of these guys who was out on a soap box waiving his finger at anyone. He let people know what he thought.”

Larkin, who was in his mid 70s, died over the weekend.

Amazon to build huge distribution center in Tracy – Amazon said Tuesday it will employ hundreds of full-time workers at a new million-square-foot distribution center it will develop in Tracy, part of its quest to provide next-day and same-day deliveries.”It’s great to be getting these jobs,” said Michael Ammann, CEO of the San Joaquin Partnership. “This is going to be a state-of-the-art facility. It is not just going to be a few people with forklifts in a warehouse. It is going to be a very sophisticated operation for Amazon.”

Potentially 500 or more full-time Amazon employees could work at the Tracy site.

Amazon in late 2012 opened a center to fill customer’s orders in San Bernardino. And in the Stanislaus County city of Patterson, Amazon is building a distribution center that could employ 350 to 400, according to estimates from the governor’s office and the city of Patterson.

Assembly Democrat wants grocery store ban on plastic bags – Assemblyman Marc Levine announced today he will revive a proposal banning all single-use plastic bags in California grocery stores.Under the proposal, most grocery retailers could no longer provide thin plastic bags for customers starting in 2015. For 18 months, retailers could offer paper bags made of recycled materials or reusable plastic bags for customers to bag their milk, eggs and other groceries.

Starting in July 2016, grocery retailers could only provide reusable plastic bags, which many stores already offer at a fee. The new proposal, Assembly Bill 158, also leaves room for stores to provide recycled paper bags at a charge.

Levine, a San Rafael Democrat in his first term, argues that the proposal would save marine life because he says single-use plastic bags account for roughly 10 percent of ocean debris. Environmental groups have backed similar bills in the past.

Herdt: Bob Larkin rang a bell; state GOP didn’t hear – Larkin died suddenly at his Westlake Village home on Saturday, and will be remembered as a civic-minded community leader in eastern Ventura County, as a dedicated businessman who continued to serve his customers every day until his death, a good-natured friend, a loving husband and a devoted golfer.
As for his political epitaph, it can be written in four words: “I told you so.”

Assemblyman Jeff Gorell, who benefited from Larkin’s support and mentoring, said recent history has proved Larkin to be something of a political prophet.

==========

R.I.P.

But, Herdt has the politics wrong and I will write about it another time.

Proposition 8: Backers of same-sex marriage ban make arguments to Supreme Court – Supporters of California’s Proposition 8 on Tuesday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to preserve the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, firing the first legal volley of many to come before the justices hear arguments in the historic case in late March.In an 83-page brief, Proposition 8’s defenders decried a federal appeals court’s ruling last year declaring the 2008 gay marriage ban unconstitutional. California voters had a right to define “the vital social institution of marriage” as being between a man and a woman, the Proposition 8 legal team wrote.

“In short, there is no warrant in precedent or precept for invalidating marriage as it has existed in California for virtually all of its history, as it was universally understood throughout this nation (and the world) until just the last decade, and as it continues to be defined in the overwhelming majority of states and nations,” they declared.

California sees a revenue bump after tax changes – After years of budget agony, California is seeing something strange this month: a heap of excess cash.The state is poised to finish January about $4 billion ahead of what forecasters expected in income taxes, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office – the biggest one-month overage that state fiscal experts can recall in recent memory.

California also set a single-day record Jan. 16 when the Franchise Tax Board received $2.2 billion in taxes, mostly in payments from the 6 percent of filers who pay quarterly rather than have money deducted from paychecks.

Glendale City Council To Consider Gun Show Ban – City council members will consider a proposal Tuesday evening that would ban gun shows at the Glendale Auditorium.The Glendale Gun Show has been held at the auditorium since 1992 and is next scheduled to take place in March.

Last year, three gun shows were held within city limits.

City councilman Rafi Manoukian first suggested the proposal in December after the fatal shooting of 27 children and adults in Newtown, Conn.

The council has several options for the ban: canceling rental contacts with the Glendale Gun Show for coming events, banning all gun sales on city property, and allowing the show to operate through the rest of 2013 and then enforcing a ban.

But not all city residents believe a gun show ban will prevent violence.

For one thing, it would represent a generational fight — pitting a 71-year-old, longtime political veteran of Japanese ancestry against a 35-year-old emerging leader of the South Asian Indo-American community, which is booming and flexing its muscle in the South bay.

It would be a challenge of a longtime, traditional, respected Democratic labor favorite and party leader against an up and coming Democrat with tech saavy — and big Silicon Valley ties.

Hilda Solis considering a run for L.A. County Board of Supervisors – U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis confirmed Friday that she is considering running for a seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, plans to “get my footing back in the community” and remain politically active in Los Angeles.”I’m going to take a look at it,” she said of her potential run for the eastern Los Angeles County seat that will be vacated late next year by Supervisor Gloria Molina, who will be termed out of office.Solis declined to offer a date when she will officially announce her decision, saying she wants to take time to “reflect, relax” and spend more time with her 87-year-old mother.

Solis, 55, has spent 12 years in Washington, first as a San Gabriel Valley congresswoman and, since 2009, as a member of President Obama’s Cabinet.

Manufacturing stages U.S. comeback, but not in California – Manufacturing is staging a big comeback in the United States, according to a new U.S. Commerce Department report, but a new state employment report indicates that manufacturing is continuing its years-long slide in California.The federal report says that between the start of 2010 and the end of 2012, manufacturing accounted for 500,000 new jobs. But a state-by-state survey indicates that the effects are being felt mostly in the Upper Midwest and the South.In Indiana, for example, manufacturing accounts for 13.1 percent of jobs and 22.3 percent of earnings, making it the No. 1 state in terms of economic impact. All other states with high-impact manufacturing sectors, except for New Hampshire, are in the two regions.

California unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.8% last month – California’s labor market slowed last month as employers shed 17,500 jobs in December and the unemployment rate remained unchanged.The state’s jobless rate, which fell below 10% in November for the first time in nearly four years, stands at 9.8%, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.In addition, job figures for November were revised upward to show a net gain of 6,100 jobs that month.

Amgen to spend $200 million on Singapore manufacturing facility – Amgen will invest about $200 million to build a manufacturing facility in Singapore to produce clinical and commercial products, with an initial focus on expansion of monoclonal antibodies, the company announced Wednesday.”Amgen is pleased to be planning for a new world-class facility in Singapore as part of our global expansion strategy,” said Madhu Balachandran, executive vice president of operations. “Singapore is an ideal location to further our manufacturing efforts based on its rich talent pool and friendly business environment.”

California lawmakers use Lady Gaga to attract campaign cash – Are Democratic state Sens. Ricardo Lara and Ron Calderon “Little Monsters,” the term Lady Gaga uses affectionalty for her loyal fans.The two state lawmakers will be at Staples Center on Sunday night to see Lady Gaga in concert. They are holding a joint campaign fundraiser at the event, with a $3,900 VIP contribution also including a hotel room for the night. Calderon, a Montebello resident, is raising money for his 2014 state controller campaign while Lara, who lives in Bell Gardens, is hoping to bring in cash for his reelection to the Senate.

California High-speed rail critic Rep. Jeff Denham to chair House railroad panel – High-speed rail skeptics gained new traction Wednesday with the promotion of Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Turlock, to chairmanship of the House panel that oversees railroads.A sharp critic of California’s ambitious high-speed rail plan, Denham can use his post to challenge one of the Obama administration’s top public works priorities. Future rail legislation must pass through Denham’s subcommittee, which can also hold hearings to shed potentially unflattering light on specific projects like California’s.”I’m opposed to it, but I’m going to work with the California High-Speed Rail Authority on going forward,” Denham said Wednesday. “I want to work together with them, though I still have doubts about their funding and ridership numbers.”

Underscoring his new leadership position, as well as his stated willingness to keep an open mind, Denham met early Wednesday morning on Capitol Hill with the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s two top officials, board chairman Dan Richard and chief executive officer Jeff Morales. In a statement, Richard described the meeting as “collegial and productive

California State misses prison benchmark on overcrowding – ‘s official. In a federal court filing Tuesday, California told federal judges that its prisons remain crowded beyond benchmarks set by the court nearly two years ago.The state said its 33 prisons on average are at 149.4% of design capacity. Nearly half of the individual prisons are much higher than that: 172% at North Kern State Prison, 187% at the Central California Women’s Facility, and the men’s section of Valley State Prison in Chowchilla is now at almost 352%.The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced Wednesday that the last female inmates at Valley State have been moved out, freeing up 1,536 beds that can now be used for the male prisoners housed there. Starting next week, the state will begin moving female inmates into a converted 403-bed women’s facility adjacent to Folsom State Prison.

Picking a Republican to challenge Brownley – It’s way too early to start writing about the 2014 campaigns, but with the reported statement by former Republican Sen. Tony Strickland that he’s “seriously considering” taking on Rep. Julia Brownley in a rematch of the 2012 campaign, a few preliminary observations seem in order.

California lawmaker pushes driver’s licenses for more illegal immigrants – A week after California began issuing driver’s licenses to a select group of young illegal immigrants, a state lawmaker has proposed that licenses be provided to many others who are unlawfully in the country.A new state law that took effect Jan. 1 allows driver’s licenses to be issued to those given a work permit as part of an Obama administration program that suspends deportation for many people who arrived illegally as children.Now, Assemblyman Luis Alejo (D- Salinas) has introduced AB 60, which would provide California driver’s licenses to anyone who can show they pay taxes, regardless of their immigration status.

Alejo estimates there are up to a million illegal immigrants who are driving without licenses and thus many are on the road without proper training, testing or insurance. His bill would allow licenses if someone provides the Department of Motor Vehicles with a federal individual taxpayer identification number or other document deemed proof of paying taxes.

Speaker Pérez modifies Assembly restrictions on press access – Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez has modified newly imposed restrictions on reporters’ floor access to legislators by designating a section in the back of the Assembly’s chambers for interviews.The development marks a significant change from Monday, when Pérez ended the longstanding practice of media interviews in the back of chambers during floor sessions. Reporters were required to conduct such talks in a hallway.

Jim Brulte For Chairman Of The California Republican Party – While he has not made a formal announcement of his candidacy, it has certainly been much talked about that Jim Brulte, the former leader of both Senate and Assembly Republicans, is seeking the Chairmanship of the California Republican Party. This is great news for the party, and for conservatives in California. I am very excited to endorse his candidacy, and will work hard not only to see that he is elected, but look forward to doing what I can to help make sure that under his leadership the CRP is successful.

Software update accidentially cancels food stamp cards for 37,000 Californians – About 37,000 Californians who receive food stamps are currently unable to access their benefits after their electronic benefit cards were accidentally cancelled on Sunday.Eighteen counties, including Orange County, administer the state’s food stamp program, known at the state level as CalFresh (and known federally as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP) through a computer application called CalWIN (CalWORKS Information Network).This past weekend, the primary designer of the CalWIN system, Hewlett Packard, sought to update some of the software, but in the process accidentally cancelled the benefit cards of tens of thousands recipients, including more than 6,700 in Orange County, said TerryLynn Fisher, spokeswoman for the Orange County Social Services Agency.

U.S. Supreme Court to hear Proposition 8 arguments on March 26 – The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in the legal challenge to Proposition 8 on March 26 and then consider the constitutionality of the federal government’s ban on same-sex marriage benefits the following day.The Supreme Court set the argument schedule Monday in the unfolding legal drama over same-sex marriage rights. The justices would then decide the two cases by the end of the current term in June.The high court agreed to review a federal appeals court’s decision last year invalidating Proposition 8, California’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declared the law unconstitutional because it stripped away a previous right for same-sex couples to marry in California, and Proposition 8 backers are asking the Supreme Court to overturn that ruling.

Brown fails to produce prison plan, seeks end of court control – Gov. Jerry Brown contends California no longer needs to reduce overcrowding in the state’s prisons.Federal judges had given the state until midnight Monday to file plans showing how California would meet federal caps on prison populations. Instead, in a motion filed late in the day, the governor’s lawyers asked the judges to lift those caps.”The overcrowding and healthcare conditions cited by this court to support its population reduction order are now a distant memory,” the state’s lawyers contend.

The governor takes his case on the road Tuesday, with scheduled press conferences in Sacramento and Los Angeles.

The Republicans’ Asian Problem – Much has been made, both before and after last November’s election, of the serious problems Republicans have with Latino voters. GOP nominee Mitt Romney received only a pathetic 29 percent of the Latino vote, compared with President Obama’s 71 percent. The good news, I guess, is that Republicans are now publicly pondering what to do about their lack of appeal to this fast-growing minority group.The bad news? As we head into the next election cycle, Latinos are only the third-worst minority group for Republicans. They got nearly shut out with African Americans, of course, but the GOP has even bigger problems than among Latinos with the fastest-growing minority group of all, Asian Americans. According to national exit polls, Obama received 73 percent of the Asian vote, higher than among Latinos. (In the interests of full disclosure, I admit to having a personal interest in this particular subject as the father of a half-Chinese son.)

Dan Walters: Parcel tax changes could be big battle in California Legislature – The Legislature’s Democratic leaders want to use their newly minted supermajorities to do things that they could not do before, but are leery of doing things that might alienate voters and jeopardize those supermajorities.They prefer, therefore, an incremental approach to using their two-thirds legislative votes, thus slowly warming voters to the exercise of their new power, rather than shocking them.One likely way they’ll wield their new authority is a constitutional amendment to reduce the voter approval margin for local government and school district parcel taxes from two-thirds to either a simple majority or 55 percent.

Getting around California Proposition 13 – One would hope that the Proposition 30 tax increases passed by voters would have sated the California Legislature’s appetite for additional revenue. But proposals are already circulating for potential new tax increases in this new year. Legislators would be better advised to see how much they collect from Prop. 30 before pursuing additional monies from Californians.Proposals are focusing on Prop. 13, the landmark 1978 tax-limitation measure that has undergirded the state’s prosperity since then. Prop. 13 limited property taxes to 1 percent of assessed value plus annual increases of up to 2 percent of the tax bill. When a property changes ownership, the new owner pays 1 percent of the newly assessed value.

GOP still relevant to California’s fiscal future – Many political pundits would have us now believe that Republicans are as relevant to California politics as fantasy football is to the NFL. To the contrary, there is an important role for the GOP in Sacramento and throughout the state this next legislative session.California voters, notwithstanding historic reluctance to approve higher taxes, passed Proposition 30 in November. They did so believing the promise that the projected additional revenue would help plug the budget gap and save public education from dramatic cuts.

Tom McClintock just said ‘no’ to ‘cliff’ solution – Never one to build bridges, Rep. Tom McClintock has spent the better part of 30 years in office deriding the government that gives him his paycheck.But as he showed last week, his political machine of one has gained compatriots among the shrunken but more conservative band of Republicans representing California in the House. That doesn’t bode well for California as it tries to get back some of the money it sends to Washington, and certainly not for the Sierra district McClintock represents.McClintock wasn’t among the hard-liners who openly challenged House Speaker John Boehner’s leadership when the new Congress convened last week. But he did join several of them for a press event shortly after the November election in Washington, D.C., offering his election analysis and prescription for the Republican Party.

Gun-control worries draw 6,000 to Ontario gun show – There are some Americans who believe there are too many firearms in the United States, and there are those like the thousands who attend events like Crossroads of the West Gun Show.”We have a Second Amendment which says `the right to keep and arms shall not be infringed.’ Infringed means you don’t mess with it,” said customer Patrick Hill of Menifee.Crossroads of the West is a frequent event at the Ontario Convention Center. When the show is town, thousands gather to peruse or buy any of myriad firearms such as a vintage Remington shotgun, a Ruger Redhawk revolver, Glock semi-automatic pistol or a modern AR-15-style rifle.

Saturday’s show, however, was Crossroads’ first in Ontario since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in December. The gunman who perpetrated that mass killing shot and killed 20 children and six women at the Newtown, Conn., campus after killing his mother and before ending his rampage by suicide.

California gun sales have risen, gun injuries have decreased – California has millions more guns than it did 10 years ago. It also has thousands fewer gun injuries and deaths each year.Those are two simple facts that, depending on whom you ask, have everything or nothing to do with each other.Last month’s horrific Connecticut school shooting has reignited the debate over gun control in California, a state with some of the nation’s strictest gun laws. State legislators will likely take up additional gun law proposals later this year, ranging from further limits on ammunition purchases to requiring regular background checks for gun owners.

Here is Dan Walter’s of the Sacramento Bee about the start of the California Legislative session:

It’s time for Congress and the president to enact comprehensive immigration reform. And it’s time for Republicans to shift their position on the issue, indeed not only embracing a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, but championing the cause. Doing so is the right thing to do, and it is consistent with the history and core values of the party of Lincoln and Reagan.

The Grand Old Party has long stood for opportunity and against tyranny. Republican defense of free markets and limited government has helped create economic opportunities and prosperity unlike any other country in the world.

These opportunities have attracted families to America who flee the economies of more intrusive, restrictive governments they leave behind. They are, as immigrants have been through America’s history, grateful neighbors who bring a strong work ethic and an entrepreneurial spirit to their adopted home country.

Unfortunately, the federal government has failed its responsibilities for managing immigration controls and policy, and as a result has placed Californians in an unacceptable position. By inaction in Washington, we are essentially asked to ignore our undocumented neighbors – many of whom are my constituents – and simply pretend they are not there. This simply cannot continue.

Jeff is simply Hispanic pandering, since against a generic, unknown Democrat, he did not meet up to expectations at the polls. He lost by over thirty points in heavily Hispanic Oxnard.

Hispanic outreach is one thing, but to dramatically ask for a shift in immigration policy – one that amounts to a blanket amnesty for millions of lawbreakers is not in the interests of California.

Jeff, there is plenty of time for outreach and plenty of time for the Congress to debate and enact a sensible change to immigration policy.